Tarantula Attack During Run & New Marathon Registration (SQUEAL)!

It’s been a pretty good week of runs/workouts. I’ve been adjusting to the warmer weather and the non-stop wall of wind. I also started up with hill repeats again – which means track work is soon to follow…So, good times?

Ha, in other good times, I was able to join TNSR for a run too. Only problem was the SWARMING TARANTULA ATTACK!

Our runs are so dangerous!

OK, maybe “attack” is an exaggeration. There was just one fuzzy little guy on the trail.

He’s not so bad.

I actually see those suckers fairly frequently on my runs. They won’t bother you, and they eat a lot of bugs and things that I don’t like, so we’re cool. All you have to do is hop over them and continue on your way!

After all, there’s a margarita at the finish…

Even the margarita has bunny ears this close to Easter.

Now for the marathon news!!! I’m very excited for this! VERY! This will be my 5th full marathon. Every other one I’ve done was at Disney World. And while they’re a ton of fun, man, that humidity just takes it out of you.

After the Disney 6 Dopey Challenge last year.

I’ve also made some training mistakes in preparing for those marathons. That’s ok, you learn and move on. And now I hope to take that knowledge (and hopefully lower humidity) and finally have a good showing in a 26.2 mile race.

My shoes and socks after my very first marathon. Told you I made some mistakes. Try not to barf.

But which marathon is it? Well, you’ll have to wait a few days to hear that news (I need to prepare a few things first). Sorry to be a tease. 😉

I will give you a few hints: It’s in the USA. It’s in the Fall. I may or may not celebrate afterwards with a billy goat.

Can you guess which marathon I’m going to run? What’s something you’ve learned from running? Ever jump over a tarantula?

-Scott

PS – COME BACK IN A FEW DAYS TO HEAR ALL ABOUT MY NEW MARATHON!!!

Lots of Christmas Runs, Stage Shows, Wild Yoga & Randomness Galore

It’s been non-stop gangbusters lately. Let me try and ketchup…

What am I up to? Oh, just making it rain, dear.

Of course, Christmas was upon us, and so the kiddos were amped.

1/3 of these folks had a wet diaper. Can you guess which one?

But the holidays don’t mean my legs get a break. And on Xmas Eve I met up with a big group of local runners for a morning run.

Getting my Zen on before the run.

Christmas morning I went on a solo run. I saw a surprising amount of people at the park.

For my long run this week, I got in a half marathon. It was really really windy.

At the last minute my run bud messaged me and said she’d run with me. So glad she did. It made the miles go by much faster. We didn’t take a pic, but here’s us at last month’s Thanksgiving Day race.

Such a pill…gram.

 

While we were at the show, the grandparents took the kids to the zoo…

Penguins is practically chickens.

Free turtle rides!

The next morning I met up with some more friends for a trail run. We got in 6+ miles, and even mixed in a little yoga…

Not sure if these are actual poses or not. But there’s no rules in yoga, right?

But it doesn’t stop there. Next we took the kiddos to see Disney Live…

Pirates vs Princesses. Guess which team I’m on.

Ha, I gotta say that it was drastically different than the ‘Once’ show – a lot less ‘F-bombs’.

Anywhoodle, that night my friends messaged me that they wanted to go on a second run for the day, but this time it was around a fancy neighborhood that is famous for their Christmas lights.

Tree Pose.

Look, it’s Santa flying! I know him!

I need to have these green spots checked out.

So there it is, kids. The reason for my blog-cation. It’s been a crazy train time around here. Hopefully things will relax just a bit, but it has been a fun ride!

How bout you? Crazy Holidaze? Gettin your workouts in? Any fun group runs?

-Scott

Running Frozen, New Ambassadorship &Soccer Season Ends

Sorry I’ve been MIA recently…well, actually I wish I was in MIA as it would be a lot warmer than it is here in Texas this week. But I digress…

Yes, we also got that Arctic Blast that blasted much of the USA. It went from 80 degrees on Monday, to below freezing for the rest of the week. Let’s just say that my transition to cold running hasn’t been so pretty. I still ran each day, but I wasn’t loving it.

So cold that a snowflake formed on my shirt.

Now I know that it could be much worse, and it is much worse up North, but I feel Frozen. Ah well, I just need to let it go. (See what I did there)

Before the cold snap blasted our backsides, we were able to sneak in a season’s end party for the Landsharks. I guess we had a decent enough season because they renewed my coaching contract for next season.

We couldn’t get one picture all season with all eyes open.

And now for some other cold cool news. I’ve been named an ambassador for Ramblen! You can see my Ramblen profile HERE!!!

What is Ramblen? Basically they’re for folks who like to take their workout gear with them when they travel. It helps you find places to run, workout, etc. when visiting a city…or even finding new places in your own hometown. Pretty cool.

I like this because I always take my running shoes when I travel. Like in North Crackalaka…

Running in OBX, NC, USA.

Or in sunny Orlando…

Running at Disney World.

Or on the open sea…

Runnin during an Alaskan cruise.

I gotta tell you about that last photo. I need to write a post on it someday, but let me just say that the miles fly by when the views are like this…

Mountains & icebergs.

Or like this…

Mountains & glaciers.

I’ve been to Alaska a couple times. It.Is.Uhmaizing. I can’t even describe the views there. Maybe someday I’ll get to run a race there (that’s not on a cruise ship). We’ll see!

How bout you? Do you workout when you travel? Did you get arctic blasted? What’s the most amazing place you’ve seen?

-Scott

Blog Birthday, Fly Fight, Drew Carey & Tacos

Hey kids, guess what? I just noticed that a few posts ago I wrote my 300th blog entry here. Now I’m at like 306 or something. So that’s good I guess. I just wonder where I’d be at if I didn’t ever take my “break”.

What had happened was that when I started training for my first marathon in 2007, I got bombarded with the same question every day, “How’s your training going?” I decided it’d just be easier to write a blog about it so people could follow along. And so I did…for a few years. But then I had a minor freak out about personal thoughts on the net and deleted the entire thing. All of it gone.

Fast forward a couple years and I got back in the game. It’s been fun. I hope to keep it going. So happy birthday Blog…here’s a cake.

My friend’s “Walmart Cake” I love this. So much.

I was just telling Amy over at Fitness Meets Frosting about that cake, and now she knows I wasn’t making it up!

Anyway, this morning I was on my run and came along the path where I saw the nude photo shoot a few weeks back.

There were no budding artists this time, but there was a horsefly. This thing followed me for a good quarter mile and kept nipping at my head. I got pretty frustrated and started yelling at it.

“Seriously dude?!?”

“Come on man, knock it off!”

And finally, “That’s it, you want to come at me bro?!?” I stopped running and turned to fight it.

After a few seconds of flapping my arms about in a manly way, I finally scared it off. I also scared something else. I didn’t realize that behind me was some dude jogging. He had turned the corner to see me swatting at the air and yelling at an invisible foe. He looked at me sideways as he ran past.

Oh well, what ya gonna do?

In other news, Jason over at Must Love Jogs keeps mentioning that he doubts my claims of having met Drew Carey before. Well here’s your proof. (It’s before he lost all the weight.)

Just a couple Ohio boys hanging out at a soccer match in Texas. Good thing I had my fake Drew Carey glasses handy.

I actually saw him another time at the Disney Marathon (yes, he’s a runner too!). But he was injured and couldn’t run, so instead he was cheering for everyone and high fiving. Pretty cool guy.

And finally, I’ve eaten at like 5 different taco joints this week. Here’s a pic of my favorite.

Oh yes. eggs, avocados, spicy things and more!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

How bout you? Anyone else want to question any of my former claims? Ever fight with an insect on a run? Ever get a “Walmart Cake”?

-Scott

Lil Runner Enters Kindergarten

Welp, it was bound to happen, and it finally did. The boy started kindergarten today.

He’ll grow into his backback eventually.

If you follow this blog, then you may know that this kid loves his sports. I even enter him in races whenever I get the chance. Like that time at Disney when he won his heat!

He’s a natural.

Anyway, he asked to have a “boy’s day” over the weekend. I had a ton to do around the house, but gladly put it aside to hang with the lil man. I just had to wake up extra early to get my run in first! 9+ sweaty miles.

After that I showered and we went to watch the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie. Luckily I had some free passes when I won my age group at a recent 5k…score! He really enjoyed the flick!

Then we went to the sporting goods store to get him some soccer shoes. But we got a little distracted with all the toys there…

And we ran into this guy…

We added a new rubber friend to our tough guy crew.

We also grabbed a bite at one of our fave tex mex joints. And went to the park so he could play on the playground. By the time we got home, I was exhausted.

I was hoping to lay on the couch for a while, and so I asked the boy if he wanted to play a game on the computer (thinking that might distract him), but he said, “No. I’d rather hang out with you. It’s boy’s day after-all.”

I couldn’t resist that. I sucked it up and played “battle” with him until it was time to settle down to a movie of his choice.

The night before his first day of school, I also got a chance to relax with him on the patio in the same way we did 5 years ago…

He’s grown about 5 times his size. Based on that growth rate, I figure he’ll be about 80 feet tall by his 20’s.

Which brings us to this morning. The lil one was offer to lower education.

We’ll see if he’s still smiling in a few months. 🙂

Before we left I gave him a hung and some last minute advice…

Just like the ending of ‘Lost in Translation’.

Like they say, time really does go fast.  So crazy.

How bout you? Facebook feed overrun with first day of school pics? Want to join our tough guy crew? Anyone else see TMNT?

-Scott

Hangin with Jennie Finch – Olympian, Marathoner, & My New BFF

Over the weekend I was shooting video (I’m a TV Producer) at a Jennie Finch Softball Camp in town.  If you aren’t familiar – she is the face of fast-pitch softball.  She is a wicked good pitcher and has an Olympic gold medal to show for it.

I asked if she could fill in on my coed rec softball team.  I’m still waiting for her response.

Obviously she’s an incredible athlete.  And before I interviewed, her we were chatting.  I asked her about the New York Marathon (which she ran for charity).  She finished in 4:05 despite having a baby 14 or so weeks before the race!  She said it was a blast, but that she also did a triathlon in NYC that she loved too.  And she seemed quite amazed at my Dopey Challenge tale.  So we bonded long distance race stories and became instant BFF’s!   😉

And B to the W, she was very nice and told the girls at the camp some very inspirational stories.  Everyone at the camp was getting some great knowledge and having an amazing experience!

Anyway, the rest of the weekend was pretty good exercise-wise.  I got in an 8 mile run, yard work, a long kiddie/doggie walk, and a very good yoga sesh.

Two feets, one mat.

And since the kiddos spent the night at their Auntie/Uncle’s house, the wife (who is also named Jennie) and I got to actually go out to eat!  What?  A dinner out?  It’s been so long!  Hahaha!

How bout you?  Good weekend?  Hang with any Olympians recently?  If you have kids, ever get to go out to eat (children birthday parties don’t count)?

-Scott

What’s in a name? We need to call races something else.

I’ve done tons of races.  From the 40 yard dash, all the way up to a full marathon.

Fire bad!

But I think we need to make a change. And so I totes wrote an original poem about how I’m going about it:

*I’m Starting With The Man In The Mirror.  I’m Asking Him To Change His Ways. And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer. If You Wanna Make The World A Better Race Take A Look At Yourself, And Then Make A Change.  Na Na Na, Na Na Na, Na Na, Na Nah*

*©~piratebobcat

I’m in a race.

When I was training for the Disney Dopey Challenge I started wondering.  That’s what happens when you run a lot of miles – you have time to think.  I started wondering why only the ‘Marathon’ has a real name.  As in, “I’m running a marathon.”

And a TBT race.

Now there’s also the half marathon.  And that makes sense because it’s half the distance of a full marathon (coincidentally).

Doin work son.

But what about our other most common races?  The 5k, the 10k, the 15k, the 10 miler, etc.  Why don’t they have names?  Why do we call them by their distances?  Why don’t we call a marathon a “42.195k?”

Trailblazing.

Most of us know the story of the ancient Greek soldier who ran the first ‘marathon’ to relay the news of their victory in battle.  Phidippides supposedly ran just about 26.2 miles to the plains of Marathon to tell the tale, then promptly died.  So yes, that makes sense that we’d call it a marathon since there’s a story behind it.

But what about a 5k?

At a recent Relay Race – We’re totes synchronized.

I did some research and according to the experts at Wikipedia, it’s loosely based on a race from the ancient Olympics called a Dolichos.  Which was about the same distance.  Ok, then, let’s call a 5k a Dolichos.  Deal?

Battle of the lobster backs.

What about a 10k?  Well I couldn’t find crap about it’s history other than it first appeared in the Olympics in Stockholm in 1912.

Running a race with my sis.

Since we name the Marathon after the area it first happened, then maybe we should call the 10k a ‘Stockholm’?

I finished this race despite only having one leg.

But then what about the 5k? Do we call it a ‘half Stockholm’?  Or is the 10k a ‘double Dolichos’?  I think I like the latter better.

Running all the miles.

I still have more research to do about the other random distances, but I think we’re off to a good start.  Until then, I’m getting ready for a Double Dolichos next week.  Bring it!

How bout you?  Any inside info as to why races are called what they’re called?  Any ideas for new names?  Anyone have a Dolichos coming up?

-Scott

 

Yoga is for Running

When I trained for and ran first marathon back in 2007/2008, I didn’t really know what I was doing.  This is evident by the horrible IT Band issues I suffered.  As a result, come race day my feet were left bloodied as I limped across the finish line.

My shoes and socks after the race. Try not to barf.

Since then I have learned a ton about how to stay healthy when running all these miles.  Today I will share one – Yoga.  Yoga is excellent for runners, in my experience.

At a recent practice at Lululemon. Cat, cow, whatever.

Strength – Runners need to cross-train so they can exercise muscles other than the ones they use when running.  You don’t want to create any imbalances and luckily Yoga works out all the muscles.  From toes to brain.  In particular, it works the core, which you need to do everything from grabbing a jar from the cupboard, to running a marathon.

Flexibility (Letting go) – Most of us could use some more flexibility.  Our muscles get tight, not only from running, but also from life.  This can lead to injury.  Yoga helps stretch us out.  As one instructor put it, “We are not creating flexibility, we are letting go of tension.”  Good way to think of it.

Breathing – Yoga is all about your breath.  As one instructor told me, “Breath is life, without it there is no life.”  Besides different breathing techniques, I’ve learned how important my breath is in yoga, and how many different parts of the breath there are.  I apply it to my running – when things get tough, I try to calm my breath.

Endurance – Runners are supposed to have endurance, but I’m reminded each practice that we could always gain more.  Tell me to run 5 miles, fine.  Tell me to hold an up-on-toes chair pose for 45 seconds, we may have issues.

Mental – Runners are mentally tough, but yoga helps our wills get stronger.  At a recent practice we were in a difficult pose and everyone was shaking and falling out of it.  The instructor said, “When you lose your concentration, that’s when you fall.”  This totally applies to running.  Focus, Danielson!

In the Moment – To me, this is the hardest part.  In yoga you’re supposed to stay in the moment.  You’re not supposed to be thinking about what you’re going to do after class, your grocery list, etc.  This helps me in running, when things get hard, I remember to take it one step at a time.  You don’t want to be thinking how much further you have to go!

I’ve done yoga at different studios, gyms, living rooms, sporting goods stores, and even one time in a train station.  I mentioned earlier how I’ve been going to Lululemon yoga sessions – well the other day I saw this written on the store window…

Yes, yes it is.

So there you have it, a quick overview of one of the ways I stay healthy for running – Yoga.

How bout you?  Do you do yoga?  For yourself or for running (or both)?  Did my shoes/socks make you barf?

– Scott

 

Running Debt Paid & Dressed in Drag

I wrote a little while back about a bet I had going on with a running-blog ‘friend’.  You can chickity check it HERE.

Well, I lost the bet.  His team beat my team in the NBA playoffs.  And of course it went the maximum 7 games, which meant I owed him 7 400’s on the track.  Today I did that to pay off the debt.

Photo taken after…hence the sitting.

He tweeted me in jest after the final game and said he’d like to see my splits from the track.  Well, I don’t run with my phone (camera), so I just tried to keep track in my head.  Best I could make out with my math skills were that it went something like this:

1 – 89 seconds, 2 – 86 seconds, 3-7 – 85 seconds.

It was tough.  The winds were between 25-30 mph, with gusts much stronger than that.  The whole back side of the track was a wall of wind and it felt like I was running in place.  Hopefully that made me a stronger runner though.

The flag is holding on for dear life. It’s like that every spring here.

Luckily I forgot to mention to him how the gaggle of my fellow bloggers commented that they wanted us to up the ante with an embarrassing costume, or the opponents team jersey.  In fact, I had planned on wearing my throwback Mavs jersey in spite, but I forgot it at home.

#MFFL

Truth is, I don’t get embarrassed easily, so it wouldn’t have bothered me too much to dress up for it.  You know this if you followed my Dopey Challenge races.

Knee out. Hands on hips. It’s slimming.

Besides, if I had been dressed in drag like some of your suggested, I might have gotten a visit from the cops as I was running on a middle school track – and their girls soccer team was practicing on the infield.  I can hear the 9-1-1 call now, “There’s a creepy man in a sports bra and tutu running laps at the middle school.”

From a Halloween past – The Drag Queen Bee. Or Prom Queen Bee. Whichever you prefer. Aren’t you impressed I found heels to fit me? And a prom dress for that matter?

In the end though, it wasn’t all bad.  Sure, I’m disappointing that my team didn’t win, but hey, I got a good workout out of it!

How bout y’all?  Lost any wagers lately?  Dressed in drag lately?  Besides my blogging friend at hellyontherun (who let’s me know via Twitter) is anyone else interested in the NBA playoffs?  Anyone want to go to the prom with me?

-Scott

Final Dopey Post (maybe): Shout-Outs!

This should be the last Dopey Challenge post (unless I come up with something else later).  If you missed any of my other Dopey Recaps, you can see them here: Expo, Kids Race, 5k, 10k, 13.1, 26.2, Post Run, & Meet-Ups.

Much like my first marathon (Disney 2008), my sister is the one who urged me to register for this challenge.  So first shout outs go to her.

2008 – First marathon experience was painful.

Not only for that, but also running with me (and finishing herself), driving us around,  letting us stay at her place, and getting us into the theme parks.  Here’s a tip for anyone wanting to run a Disney race – try to get a sibling that works there, it has its benefits, ha!

Us runnin through Cinderella’s Castle.

Another shout out goes to her roommate.  She had to put up with a few things, like us crowding up their place.  But more importantly she put up with a few days of watching Disney Jr non-stop on the TV as her and her beau watched the boy when we were up early for the races.  She also was able to bring him to the final race in time for us to cross the finish line.  Then she took him into Epcot while we went to meet our ma when she finished.

Glad they were able to make some roomie.

Speaking of which, more shout outs to the mom for not only paying for a couple meals and groceries, but also some theme park photos.  She also gets props for finishing the Dopey herself.  I’ve had many comments from people on how impressed they are with that last fact.  She had never run a full marathon before, and was able to do that after three days of consecutive races.  Not only that, but she finished it faster and stronger than a lot of people who didn’t run the previous three days.

Her arms were being ripped out of their sockets.

Also, I need to shout out to all the bloggers who supported me through all the training and races.  The amount of positive messages you sent was unbelievable!  I don’t want to leave anyone out, so I won’t mention specific people, but know that I appreciate it!

That also goes for all my friends and family who supported me either with words, messages, or even running with me!  Like my “coach” Rexy and the fine folks at Thursday Night Social Run and Project Run 214.  As well as my yoga instructor and chiropractor who helped keep me injury free during all those training miles.

My constant companion, the training sched.

Finally, I have to thank the immediate family for putting up with my months of training.  I tried to do it without inconveniencing anyone – like running in the wee hours before they were awake – but I know there were a few times when I did.  So thanks for TCB and allowing me to put in the hours!

So now it’s time to move on to new challenges.  I look forward to continued support as well as supporting everyone else as they take on their endeavors!  Let’s do this!

What challenges are you looking forward to?  What kind of support do you get?